[ His hand, fingers spread, takes in her face and everything underneath. ]
Is elegant, spare calm in the face of impossible circumstances not enough? - Because that was what truly struck me, when we first arrived. As I was twisted up in terror and uncertainty, you were like a beacon of tranquility.
[ Not mentioned, of course: the way you were looking for helpers. Like a noble lady, requiring assistance. By knows High Vor, and while a lady or a rich woman or whatever-she-is from another planet is not precisely Vor, she'll have similar patterns of thought and behavior. And Vor let their tongues get unguarded around their helpers. They let slip things they wouldn't otherwise. They unburden their souls. It's why Byerly almost always acts as the procurer and the purchaser for his targets - the reason he always makes himself useful to him - because they are chattier with the friends who serve them than the friends who are their equals.
No, this lady isn't Vor. But if she sees Byerly as a man who's slavishly devoted to her, who'll polish her gold and comb her hair in the hopes of gaining access to her bed - or (a more beautiful vision) as a man who's madly in love with her and services her intently in bed out of devotion to her - Well. The dynamic between them will change. And he anticipates it shifting in a more...information-rich direction. ]
But I don't see you as unconquerable, milady. I don't think of you in terms of conquest at all. [ He presses his hand to his heart. ] One does not come to a holy city with armies, looking to rip down its ramparts and loot its temples. One approaches a holy city on his knees. A supplicant, filled with awe.
no subject
[ His hand, fingers spread, takes in her face and everything underneath. ]
Is elegant, spare calm in the face of impossible circumstances not enough? - Because that was what truly struck me, when we first arrived. As I was twisted up in terror and uncertainty, you were like a beacon of tranquility.
[ Not mentioned, of course: the way you were looking for helpers. Like a noble lady, requiring assistance. By knows High Vor, and while a lady or a rich woman or whatever-she-is from another planet is not precisely Vor, she'll have similar patterns of thought and behavior. And Vor let their tongues get unguarded around their helpers. They let slip things they wouldn't otherwise. They unburden their souls. It's why Byerly almost always acts as the procurer and the purchaser for his targets - the reason he always makes himself useful to him - because they are chattier with the friends who serve them than the friends who are their equals.
No, this lady isn't Vor. But if she sees Byerly as a man who's slavishly devoted to her, who'll polish her gold and comb her hair in the hopes of gaining access to her bed - or (a more beautiful vision) as a man who's madly in love with her and services her intently in bed out of devotion to her - Well. The dynamic between them will change. And he anticipates it shifting in a more...information-rich direction. ]
But I don't see you as unconquerable, milady. I don't think of you in terms of conquest at all. [ He presses his hand to his heart. ] One does not come to a holy city with armies, looking to rip down its ramparts and loot its temples. One approaches a holy city on his knees. A supplicant, filled with awe.